The Other Evans
by Ko-pia
Summary: Harry leaves the Privet Drive with a woman claiming to be Petunia's sister, Tulip Jones. She leaves him with a strange boy called Alex Rider. Who is Alex and what is he hiding?
1. Chapter 1

Uncle Vernon woke Harry from his afternoon nap by barging loudly into Harry's bedroom.

"Boy! Get up and get dressed. We've got a guest coming for dinner tonight. She's Petunia's sister, and I want you on your best behavior. No freaky stuff!" Uncle Vernon roared before leaving the room.

Harry rolled his eyes at the ceiling. No freaky stuff tonight, darn. Just when he was planning to conjure giant squirrels and ride them around the house.

Harry began to put on one of the nicer sets of clothes he owned, then paused. Petunia's sister? His mum was dead and Harry was fairly certain that the Dursleys weren't big on necromancy. Did he have an aunt he'd never heard of before? Maybe Aunt Petunia would tell him more.

With that thought firmly in mind, Harry finished getting dressed and set off to find Aunt Petunia. She was in the kitchen cooking something for dinner.

"Boy! Do something about your awful hair, my sister will be here any moment!" Petunia screeched.

Harry obediently reached up to try and flatten his hair. "Who is she? I've never heard you had another sister."

Aunt Petunia snorted. "She's wasn't very close to Lily and me. I haven't spoken to her in years. Last thing I heard she was working at some bank in London. Ridiculous if you ask me. Women should keep house and let the men work. Her husband had some horridly common name too, Johnson or something."

The doorbell rang at that moment and Harry hurried over to open the door. When he did, he saw a woman with a terrible haircut who smelled vaguely of peppermint.

"Hello," She said, "You must be Harry. My name is Tulip Jones."

* * *

A/N Um, hi. Neither story is mine. Did anyone else ever notice the Lily/Petunia/Tulip connection?


	2. Chapter 2

Dinner was an awkward affair. Aunt Petunia and Mrs. Jones didn't seem to get along very well and apparently hadn't seen each other in years. Mrs. Jones was very reluctant to part with any personal information. During the hour long meal, the only thing Harry learned was that her husband had died and her job at the bank was boring.

Once the meal finally ended, Harry and Dudley escaped as fast as they could to their rooms, fearing slow and painful death by boredom if they remained.

Mrs. Jones came into Harry's room a half hour or so later.

"Hello," she said, "Your uncle told me you've had some trouble with the gangs in St. Brutus's and need to get out of the area for a while."

Harry was confused. St. Brutus's? Oh! Right! That was the school the Dursleys said he went to. Wait, gang trouble? He guessed the Death Eaters could count as a gang...

"Um, I suppose," Harry said, encouraged by his Uncle's frantic nodding from the doorway.

"Your aunt has asked if you could come stay with me for the summer to get away from all that. I wouldn't mind. Actually, you may be doing me a favor. The bank I work for has asked me to look after a boy your age, Alex Rider. I'm at work most of the time and am afraid that he spends most of his time alone. Your company would be appreciated. Would you like to come with me for the summer? We'd have to leave today; I don't enjoy traveling back and forth"

Harry didn't even spare a passing thought for the blood wards as he agreed. A summer away from the Dursleys was practically a dream come true.

"I'll leave you alone to gather the possessions you'll require over the summer. Come downstairs when you're ready to go."

As soon as Mrs. Jones was gone, Vernon waddled over to Harry.

"Boy, Tulip is unaware of all your freaky stuff. Petunia tells me that she was born too far apart from your mother to have been informed. You will act normal during the summer and do everything in your power to remain with Tulip until September. Clear?"

Harry nodded and went to gather his things, glad he hadn't unpacked much from his trunk. After that, he wrote quick notes to Ron and Hermione telling them he was staying elsewhere over the summer and asking if Hermione could look after Hedwig.

He hurried downstairs as quickly as possible, almost afraid that Mrs. Jones would disappear and he'd have to remain on Privet Drive. His fears turned out to be in vain when Mrs. Jones stood and helped him with his trunk.

After a swift round of good-byes, mostly done for show, Harry walked out the door to his hopefully normal summer.

* * *

A/N Hi! This takes place after Crocodile Tears and Goblet of Fire. The characters are probably going to be OOC, sorry.


	3. Chapter 3

The car ride was long and quiet. Harry eventually fell asleep and didn't wake up until Mrs. Jones' car pulled into a driveway.

"This is Alex Rider's house. He usually lives here with his guardian, but she recently suffered a nervous breakdown and is taking a short vacation. I've been looking after him, but he's alone in the house most of the time, as I said earlier. You can stay here with Alex until it's safe for you to return to my sister's home. I, or someone in my employ, will check on you periodically. I'll be very busy with my job at the bank, so don't expect to see too much of me," Mrs. Jones informed Harry.

They both got out of the car and walked up to the door, where Mrs. Jones rang the bell. A boy with blonde hair and brown eyes slowly opened the door.

"There you are Alex. This is Harry, he's going to be staying with you for some of the summer. Harry, this is Alex."

Both boys looked at the other warily. Alex's eyes were drawn to the peculiar lightening shaped scar on Harry's forehead. It was too perfectly shaped to be natural. No accident made a scar like that. It must have been deliberately done, but why? The only reason Alex could think of was as part of an induction into a criminal organization. Possibly a branch of SCORPIA. He wouldn't put it past MI6 to place a potential assassin in his home as a test. Alex would have to be careful around this 'Harry.'

Meanwhile, Harry was examining Alex. He noted that Alex stood like a fighter, but more importantly, he had cold and calculating eyes. They looked at Harry like they were evaluating his weaknesses and plotting the best way to kill him. The only other place Harry had seen eyes like that was in Voldemort's Death Eaters. In these times, you could never be too certain of who was working for them. Come to think of it, it was awfully strange for 'Tulip Jones' to show up all of the sudden. He was a fool for going with her; this could all be a Death Eater plot! Harry would need to keep a close eye on 'Alex' and 'Mrs. Jones.'

Harry and Alex both made their observations in the space of a few seconds before forcing a grin at the other. After all, it wouldn't do to get his guard up.

"Hi Harry, it's nice to meet you," Alex said.

"Same here," Harry replied.

They both thought at the same time, 'This is going to be a long summer.'


	4. Chapter 4

Alex blinked. Harry blinked. Harry discreetly checked his watch. Alex snuck a glance at the wall clock. Both boys sighed simultaneously, then glanced at the other in suspicion.

Mrs. Jones had left Harry at Alex's house an hour ago. They'd exchanged only seven words since she left (Are you hungry? No, not really, thanks). Neither knew what to do, and both were bored out of their minds.

Alex glanced at the clock again. An hour and eight minutes since Mrs. Jones left. He couldn't take it any longer.

"Are you tired? I've got a guest room you could stay in," he said.

"A bit. It was a pretty long drive," Harry replied, neglecting to mention he'd slept on the way there.

Alex got up and led Harry to the guest room. It was the room furthest from Alex's and any quick escape routes.

"Here it is. Sorry it's a bit of a mess, I wasn't expecting company."

"It's fine. See you in the morning."

"Yeah. Bye."

* * *

Alex and Harry both got up fairly early the next morning and headed downstairs to get breakfast. Alex, with a barely noticeable glance at Harry, opened a sealed box of cereal for his breakfast. Just in case.

Harry made sure to get his food from the same box Alex did. Just in case.

They ate in silence. Alex read the newspaper while Harry pondered how underage magic was detected. It couldn't be specific charms on wands or people because then he wouldn't have been blamed for Dobby's levitation charm. Most likely there were wards over homes where underage wizards and witches were known to reside. If he performed magic here, it probably wouldn't be discovered. Of course, he didn't want to test that theory and find out he was wrong, but if things went south it was good to think he could defend himself.

They finished eating at about the same time and placed their bowls in the sink before going to the living room, where they sat in silence. Again.

Harry didn't think his nerves could take it much longer. He had to get away from Alex.

"I'm going to take a walk or something. I'd like to get to know the area."

"Good idea, I'll go for a walk too," Alex said, while thinking, 'I bet you would. It'll make your escape after killing me that much quicker, won't it?'

Both boys immediately took off in opposite directions, sick of the other's company.

* * *

Harry's day was definitively improving. It was beautiful out, and the walk was really clearing his head. He realized that he was probably being a little bit paranoid about Alex. After all, what were the chances that his host had anything to do with the Death Eaters?

Harry was nearly back to the house when he became aware of three strange men. They were wearing odd black outfits that covered everything, including their faces. The men seemed to be paying a little too much attention to the house he was staying at.

Maybe they were a group of Death Eaters trying to fit in with the muggles. After all, no sane muggle would be dressed all in black on such a hot day. However, the chances were pretty low that Death Eaters would have found him already. Unless, of course, someone told them where he was. Someone like Alex.

* * *

A few blocks away, Alex was enjoying the day. It was wonderful out, and he was starting to feel a bit bad about being so suspicious of Harry. After all, not everybody was out to kill him.

Just after Alex had that thought, he noticed a peculiar pair of people that seemed to be moving towards his house. They were wearing white masks and funny black dresses. The only people Alex had ever seen wearing something remotely similar had been trying to kill him.

Alex sighed. Why was it always him? Of course, he supposed it was to be expected. He did seem to have an assassin living in his house, didn't he?


	5. Chapter 5

Harry approached the strange men with great caution, but froze when one man looked up suddenly and glanced around suspiciously. It appeared that he wasn't going to be able to sneak up on them easily. It was only pure luck and a convenient tree that had prevented him from being seen.

Fortunately, Harry was a wizard. He didn't need to get any closer. Harry glanced around quickly for muggles before drawing his wand. He cast a listening charm, then settled down against the tree. It'd be best to make sure something was wrong with these men before attacking. Also, the lack of response to the charm he'd just used proved his theories about underage magic monitoring.

The charm didn't seem to be working well, probably because of the distance between Harry and the men. Still, he could make out a few words.

"Quickly…no witnesses….kill...-Rider!"

Harry stood up. He'd heard enough. Obviously Alex had told Voldemort about Harry staying with him, and now some Death Eaters had been sent to finish him off.

He'd need to take care of this quickly and quietly if he didn't want to involve any nearby muggles.

Harry placed a silencing charm on himself and approached the men at a run when they turned to examine Alex's house. He'd managed to get within five feet before one glanced around suddenly (again) and caught sight of him. The man yelled and nudged his companions, who began advancing on Harry. He quickly fired a stunner at the first man, then watched in surprise as the other men froze in what appeared to be shock while staring at his wand. Maybe they hadn't expected him to fight back.

The men didn't stay frozen for long. One rushed to check on their companion while the other approached Harry with almost unearthly speed. Harry tried to stun him, but the man was moving too fast. The Death Eater struck a glancing blow on Harry's temple and kicked him in the stomach. Harry had only a brief moment to be amazed by a wizard using muggle fighting arts before he collapsed, dazed. While Harry was down, the two men left with their stunned companion.

* * *

Alex pondered the two men in black dresses. They were definitely moving towards his house, but he needed a bit more information before deciding on a course of action. Fortunately, these men were woefully unobservant for assassins, and Alex was able to get quite close to them with no trouble. Pressed against the side of a house, Alex strained his ears.

"Close now…finally kill that brat…Potter…other Death Eaters…"

Although Alex hadn't made out much, it was enough. These men were sent, on Harry's information, to kill him. Harry must be a member of this 'Death Eater' gang.

Taking a quick survey of his surroundings, Alex decided this was a good place to launch his attack. He had the element of surprise and was familiar with the area.

Alex pushed off of the wall he was leaning against and began running towards the men in a quiet crouch. One man seemed to hear something, though, and had begun turning when Alex brought him down with a swift hit to the head. The other man reached for a strange stick and yelled some gibberish while pointing it at Alex, who trusted his instincts and dropped to the ground. A beam of red light shot past his head, causing Alex to blink. That was something new.

Another swing of the stick brought his attention back to the fight. Deciding to get this strange weapon out of the way first, Alex aimed a kick at the man's wrist and couldn't help but be surprised when it connected, causing him to drop the stick. It was almost as if these men had no fighting experience at all.

Alex again returned his focus to the fight, just in time to dodge a green light from the first man's stick. Deciding to get rid of one of these sticks permanently, Alex scooped one up and snapped it with surprising ease.

The owner of the stick seemed shocked. He stared at the broken stick, frozen in horror. His companion, apparently worried about the safety of his stick, roughly grabbed the man's arm. They disappeared with a small 'pop.'

Alex slowly blinked twice. That was something you really didn't see every day. He sighed and picked up the fragments of the stick, placing them in his pocket. It looked like it was time to pay a little visit to the bank.


	6. Chapter 6

Harry blinked as he sat up. That really had hurt. He could already feel bruises forming on his head.

He sighed and stood up fully. He should get indoors before Alex returned and wondered why he was standing in the bushes. Best of all, his bed was in the house and he could really use a nap. First he'd have to contact Dumbledore, though.

Harry opened the door to Alex's house and began heading towards his room. He paused at the bottom of the stairs when he heard the door open again and Alex walk in. Harry glanced over at Alex and was shocked by the intensity of the glare he was receiving.

"What happened to your face?" Alex demanded.

"Oh, er, nothing. I tripped and hit a rock," Harry winced a bit at how pathetic his excuse sounded. "What happened to you? Your clothes are covered in dirt."

"It appears that I tripped as well," Alex replied.

"Right. I'm going upstairs to lie down for a bit. See you later."

"Undoubtedly."

* * *

Alex waited in the doorway until he heard Harry's footsteps enter the guest room and the door slam shut. He really needed to talk with Mrs. Jones. Harry having a fresh bruise right where he'd struck one of his attackers was too large a coincidence for him to ignore.

Alex grabbed his cell phone and headed outside. Normally he'd use the kitchen phone, but his guest might overhear.

He flipped the phone open, then paused. Come to think of it, he didn't know MI6's number. Alex suppressed the urge to bang his head on a tree and went back inside to find the phone book. After some searching, he found the Royal and General's number and added it to his phone. Alex stepped outside and dialed.

"Hello, this is the Royal and General Bank, how may I help you?"

"Hi, my name's Alex Rider and I'd like to schedule an appointment with Mrs. Jones."

"I'm sorry; no one with that name works here. Did you mean Mrs. Johnson?"

Alex again suppressed the urge to whack his head on a tree. Stupid MI6…

"Right, of course no one named Mrs. Jones works there. How silly of me. Regardless, please tell the non-existent Mrs. Jones that I'm on my way over and would like a meeting with her. If she doesn't wish to meet with me, or continues to not exist, I'll be forced to resort to drastic measures," Alex slammed the phone shut over the receptionist's protests. 'That felt good,' he thought as he walked over to his bike.

* * *

Harry removed some parchment and a quill before sitting down at the room's desk. After some deliberation, he began to write.

_Dear Dumbledore,_

_I'm really sorry to bother you, but I need some advice. A few days ago a woman named Tulip Jones showed up at my house. Aunt Petunia said Mrs. Jones was her sister. They arranged for me to stay with her this summer._

_She has me living with boy named Alex Rider. I think that he may have something to do with the Death Eaters._

_Earlier today, I was attacked by three oddly dressed Death Eaters. I stunned one of them before another hit me. They all ran while I was dazed. I'm not entirely sure what the purpose of their attack was or why they left me when they ran._

_Shortly after the fight, I saw Alex. He looked like he'd been in a fight. He was breathing hard and his clothes were covered in dirt. I suspect that he had left them on the ground after changing into the strange outfit my attackers were wearing._

_Again, I'm really sorry to bother you, but I don't know what to do. I have no proof about Alex, but he makes me nervous. I'd really appreciate some help._

_~Harry Potter_

Harry glanced over his letter, then nodded in satisfaction. All he had to do now was get Hedwig to deliver it to Dumbledore.

Harry froze. He'd sent Hedwig to Hermione for the summer. He had no magical way to send his letter and Dumbledore probably didn't have a muggle mailing address.

His head thumped down on the surface of the desk. What now?


	7. Chapter 7

Alex hopped off his bike in front of the bank and chained it up. He walked into the building and was pleasantly surprised to see Mrs. Jones waiting for him. She didn't look very happy.

"Hello Alex. Care to explain why you just threatened our poor secretary? She had no idea about the other side to the bank," Mrs. Jones said.

"Oh. Oops. I thought that everyone who worked here knew," Alex replied as Mrs. Jones led him into the elevator.

"Obviously not. What did you need to contact me about? I assume it has to do with Harry."

"Yeah. There's something weird about him. I think works for a terrorist organization called the Death Eaters."

"Do you have any proof?"

"I was attacked earlier and he has injuries similar to what I gave one of my attackers. And that scar on his head can't be natural, it's too perfectly shaped. It's probably the sign of the organization he belongs to."

They both fell silent as the elevator doors opened and they got off. As soon as Mrs. Jones office was reached, Alex continued.

"What do you know about Harry? Why did you have him stay with me? You didn't explain anything on the phone."

Mrs. Jones sighed and rubbed her forehead as she sat down.

"Have a seat Alex. This could take a while to explain.

"It all goes back to my sister Lily, Harry's mother. I wasn't very close to her because she was quite a few years younger than me, but I knew there was something odd about her.

"Shortly after she turned eleven, she and Petunia began fighting. I don't what it was about because I was living on my own by then.

"Lily married a man who said his name was James Potter. I was already working for MI6 at the time, and I did a few searches on him. I couldn't find anything. There was no birth certificate, hospital records, driver's license, nothing. He appeared out of thin air.

"A few years after her marriage, Lily and James died. Petunia told me it was in a car crash, but I couldn't find proof. There weren't any newspaper articles or death certificates.

"Harry was only a year old at the time and he was sent to Petunia. I wasn't contacted about taking him in. However, MI6 had already buried most of my records by then so most likely the person in charge of Harry didn't know Lily had another sister.

"I had forgotten all about Harry until a few days ago when Petunia called me and invited me to dinner. I hadn't seen her since before Lily died and was eager to reconnect. I hoped she'd become less bitter towards Lily.

"Instead, Petunia said she needed me to look after Harry. Apparently he was involved in gang trouble and she didn't want to deal with it.

"When I heard this I knew it was my chance to find out about Lily. I invited him to stay with me. However, once he was in the car I realized he couldn't stay in my apartment. You've seen the security there, it would have nearly impossible to get him keyed into everything.

"After he fell asleep I called you," Mrs. Jones paused and, for a second, looked more human than Alex had ever seen her.

"Alex, I know I'm asking a lot of you to have him stay with you over the summer. However, I don't know anyone else I could ask. There's no one else near his age I can trust, and he probably wouldn't trust an adult. I have no idea what he's involved in, except that it probably relates to Lily.

"I just want to know what really happened to my little sister, and for that I need your help. Please Alex. This has nothing to do with my job or Mr. Blunt."

Alex took a deep breath and prepared to say no. He wanted to help Mrs. Jones, but not if it put his life in more danger.

"And, of course, if you are busy doing this for me, you won't be able to go on any missions this summer," Mrs. Jones concluded.

That made Alex's decision a lot easier.

"Okay, I'll do it."

"Wonderful, thank you so much Alex. Now, tell me more about the attack you mentioned and why you think it involves Harry."

"This morning, we both went on a walk alone. A few blocks from my house, I saw some strange men in black dresses and white masks. From the little I overheard of them talking, I believe they are called Death Eaters and were planning to kill me using Harry's information. I ambushed them, and they attacked back using strange weapons. The weapons looked like ordinary sticks, but shot beams of light. After I broke one, the men disappeared. They didn't run or get in a car, they litereally disappeared right in front of my eyes.

"I returned to the house where I saw Harry on his way upstairs. He had a bruise on his head where I struck one of the men. I think he was probably one of the Death Eaters."

"You said that you broke one of the sticks, do you have the pieces?"

Alex nodded and passed the fragments over.

"I'll give these to Smithers to look at. Are you sure that Harry was one of the men? You said their faces were covered, but Harry's pretty short," Mrs. Jones said.

"You have a point. I think they were a bit bigger than him. However, if he didn't attack me, where did he get that bruise? I don't believe that he fell down."

"You never know. Still, keep your guard up. Even if it wasn't him attacking you, there were the Death Eaters. I've never heard of them before, but I'll see if I can find anything in our databases."

"Okay," Alex stood up, "I'm going back now. I don't want to leave him alone in my house too long."

"Goodbye Alex, and thank you again."

* * *

Sorry for the longer wait, I'm trying to make the chapters bigger. Is it better to have a short wait and short chapter or a longer wait and a longer chapter?


	8. Chapter 8

Harry thumped his head on the desk repeatedly, feeling quite stupid. He was a wizard, for crying out loud! Contacting someone shouldn't be this difficult. He couldn't owl anyone, he'd forgotten Hermione's muggle address, if he ever knew it, and there was a full page of Grangers in the phonebook. So, how could he contact the wizarding world from London…

Oh. Harry felt really stupid now. How had he forgotten about Diagon Alley? It was practically staring him in the face. All he had to do was go downstairs and catch the Knight Bus.

Oh. It didn't matter that he was in London; he could have called the Knight Bus from just about anywhere. It seemed like Hermione was right, most wizards, including him, don't have an ounce of common sense.

Well, no time like the present. Alex was out of the house so there wouldn't be any awkward questions about where he was going or why he was leaving.

Harry hopped up out of his chair and bounced down the stairs. He felt much better now that he had a plan of some sort. His hand was mere inches from the doorknob when it was abruptly yanked open by a contemplative Alex. Both boys jumped a bit at the sudden appearance of the other.

"Ah, hello Harry. Were you going somewhere?" Alex asked.

"No, not really. I was bored and decided to take another walk," Harry replied.

Alex glanced over his shoulder at the dark street and gathering storm clouds, then raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure? It looks like it's going to storm soon. What if you…tripped…again and needed help. No one else would be out in this weather," Alex said, flicking his eyes to the bruise still visible on Harry's face.

Harry blinked. Was Alex threatening him?

"I'm sure I can handle any rocks that may get in my way this time."

"Really. I have a better idea. Why don't we play a game? It should alleviate your boredom and we could get to know each other better." Harry was Alex's only safeguard against more missions. There was no way he'd let him out of his sight and allow him to sneak away.

"Ok. Why don't we play chess," Harry suggested. He was so horrible at chess that the game would end quickly and he could call the Knight Bus that night.

* * *

One hour later the boys were still playing. Harry had been shocked to discover that Alex was as bad at chess as he was. This was the longest game he'd ever been in, and there was still no sign of who had the advantage. Harry had never won at chess before and wouldn't lose this game without a fight. Unfortunately for him, Alex was in exactly the same situation and just as determined not to lose.

* * *

Meanwhile, Dumbledore had just called an emergency meeting of the Order of the Phoenix to order.

"Good evening everyone. I'm sure you're all wondering why you've been summoned on such short notice. It pains me to say this, but it appears that Harry Potter has gone missing," Dumbledore said.

Instantly there was an uproar. People began shouting questions and looking around, as if Harry was hiding under the table or behind the curtains.

"Silence! If you will just give me a few minutes I can answer your questions. Now, I was alerted that Harry had left his aunt and uncle's home yesterday evening by owls from Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley. They both received notes from him stating that he would be staying with someone other than the Durselys this summer. They were suspicious and immediately owled me with this information.

"In addition, Harry asked Hermione to look after Hedwig. From this we can assume that Harry did not leave of his own freewill. Harry would never part from Hedwig if he could help it." Dumbledore paused.

"Why were the notes sent, then?" Kingsley asked.

"I believe they were sent in an attempt to keep Harry's abduction a secret as long as possible."

"What about the guard? Privet Drive is under watch; did anyone notice Mr. Potter leaving?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Mundungus was on duty, but he left because of a, as I believe he put it, sudden business opportunity."

"Have you questioned the boy's family?" Someone asked.

"I have. Petunia claimed that she sent Harry off to live with her sister Tulip for the summer. However, I can find no evidence that this sister exists. I believe that she had a memory charm placed on her to make her believe that whoever took Harry was her sister. Unfortunately, I could find no evidence of the charm, meaning it was done by someone very powerful."

The room grew quiet. There were very few people alive that were powerful enough to hide the traces of their magic from Dumbledore. The only one with power and a reason to abduct Harry was Voldemort.

Dumbledore sighed.

"I did not mean to alarm you. We have no proof that Harry is a prisoner of Voldemort. Until we are sure of what has happened, I need all of you to keep your eyes and ears open for anything that looks or sounds suspicious. Do not attempt to magically find Harry. If he has been captured most likely there are already precautions against him being found in such a manner. Our attempts at tracing Harry would only anger his captors and inform them that we know he is missing. If they are unaware that we're searching for Harry, they're more likely to make mistakes that will allow us to determine his location."

Dumbledore paused and continued when no one spoke up.

"If there are no more questions then this meeting is over. Good night everyone, and be careful."

* * *

A/N: Sorry this took so long, I'll try to make future chapters come quicker. I hope this chapter was alright, and thank you for reading it.


	9. Chapter 9

Smithers looked at the lab results again in frustration. Mrs. Jones had asked him to analyze a stick that Alex had brought in, but the results he had received didn't make any sense. All he knew was that the object was composed of a length of yew wood with some sort of animal matter as a core. However, he couldn't determine what animal the core came from. The DNA was vaguely similar to that of a lizard, but he couldn't find a close match anywhere. It seemed to be from a completely new species of animal.

Of course, he couldn't tell Mrs. Jones that. She wanted results, not more mysteries. It was nearly impossible for a creature with such radically different DNA to exist undiscovered. Maybe he could send samples out to his buddies in the CIA and ASIS. They might know what creature the core was made from, but it would take time for the results to come in. Mrs. Jones would just have to wait for his report.

* * *

Malcolm the Death Eater was having a bad day. A day so bad that it qualified as a Very Bad Day. He had been on a simple mission with his friend Collin. All they had to do was evaluate a part of muggle London as a potential target for a raid. An easy mission. The kind that rookie Death Eaters like himself dreamed of. When he and Collin arrived there, they did a routine scan for magical life. How surprised they were when they found out Potter was nearby! They had thought that they could kill him and show up the other Death Eaters. Instead, they were attacked by a crazy muggle. He had come running out of nowhere and hit Collin in the head. Then, he kicked Malcolm and broke his wand. His wand! His beautiful yew-and-dragon-heartstring wand, made by Ollivander, the finest wandmaker in Britain. Now, it was gone forever.

Malcolm sniffled to himself as he trudged desolately down the corridor of his master's hideout. Why was his life so cruel? All he wanted was a beautiful wife, lots of money, and plenty of mudbloods and muggles to torture and kill. But noooooo, that was too much to ask for. He couldn't even keep his wand. This day couldn't get any worse.

"What are you doing here?" His master's harsh voice brought Malcolm back into the real world. Crud, he'd wandered into his master's personal chambers!

"Well?" Lord Voldemort demanded.

"My lord, I sincerely apologize! I was lost in my thoughts and didn't realize where I was!" Malcolm threw himself to the floor, praying that these weren't his last moments.

"What could possibly be so important that you'd risk angering me with your distraction?"

"Master, when Collin and I were on our mission this morning, we were attacked by what appeared to be a muggle boy. He fought with unnatural speed and power and was nearly able to overcome us with only his bare hands."

"I have no need of weaklings who can be so easily defeated among my forces. Crucio!" Lord Voldemort hissed. However, this fool had attracted his attention. A being with unnatural speed and strength able to overcome two wizards could be valuable asset. Especially if it appeared to be a muggle boy. It would be the ideal spy to use on that old fool Dumbledore.

Lord Voldemort smiled to himself as he stepped over the whimpering remains of his minion. Maybe he would send some of his forces to retrieve this 'boy'…

* * *

Meanwhile, three agents of another organization of questionable morality were preparing to report to their superior. They were nervous. There were only two ways this meeting could go. In the first (and most likely) situation, they were all killed for failing their mission. In the other, they were rewarded for discovering something more interesting than Alex Rider's death.

"You may enter now," a cold voice said through the door in front of them. After sharing a few more nervous glances, they stepped into the room. The floor was tiled. It would make it easier to remove the blood of those who failed missions.

"You have five minutes to tell me the reasons behind your failure to kill Alex Rider before I shoot you. Begin," their superior said with a vaguely bored look on his face. After all, this was just another part of his job.

"Well, sir," the first man began, "We were attacked. A boy came out of nowhere and shot Andy with some sort of ray gun shaped like a piece of wood. It knocked him out. Stephen hit the boy in the head and kicked him into some bushes. We then grabbed Andy and left because we were unsure of the boy's capabilities. The really frightening part though, sir, was that the boy made no noise during the fight. None at all. We couldn't even hear the bushes moving when he fell into them. It wasn't natural. We suspect some sort of highly advanced technology was used to eliminate all the sound around him. Think of what SCORPIA could do with such tools!"

The man stopped nervously and looked at his boss, hoping for some sign that he and his two teammates would be allowed to live to see another day.

"Very interesting. A ray gun and some sort of silencer you say? How intriguing," Their superior was interested. His bosses would heavily reward someone who presented them with that sort of technology. He would have to obtain this boy and find out where he got these items. But before he could do that, he had some business to take care of. He picked his gun up off the desk and swiftly shot the three men in front of him. In SCORPIA you only got one chance. Failure was not acceptable.

* * *

Miles away, a fearsome battle was being fought. The two combatants were exhausted, but determinedly continued on. The chess game had been raging for six hours and both Harry and Alex had only two pawns and the king remaining, but each was equally determined not to lose. Not again. Not this time.

* * *

...Hi? I just wanted to prevent some confusion. Alex isn't supernaturally fast or strong, the Death Eater just doesn't want to look too bad. Also, the SCORPIA people couldn't hear Harry because of the silencing charm he cast on himself.

Sorry I took so horribly long to get this chapter out. Thank you for reading.


	10. Chapter 10

All was still in the Rider household. Alex and Harry stared down at the nearly empty chessboard, occupied only by the fallen forms of two kings. Someone had bumped the table, and neither could bear trying to figure out who did it or where the kings had been. Alex slowly raised his head and met Harry's waiting gaze.

"Tie?"

"Tie."

"Rematch in the morning?"

"Agreed."

The boys shook hands with an air of formality before cracking weary grins at each other. Alex and Harry trudged up the stairs to their respective rooms, too tired for anything more than a slow nod good night.

* * *

A few short hours later, Alex's eyes snapped open. He thought he heard something downstairs…there it was again! Maybe Harry got up for a midnight snack…or maybe not. Groaning, Alex forced himself up and out of bed. Even though it was probably nothing, he'd never get to sleep again unless he checked it out. After grabbing the can of Stingo that he somehow still had, Alex crept out the door and into the hall.

Meanwhile, Harry as well was awakened by the mysterious noise. He almost rolled over to go back to sleep, but then heard movement from Alex's room. Instantly suspicious, he grabbed his wand and stepped out into the hallway.

"Oof!"

"Ah!"

There was a thud as the two boys collided and fell to the ground.

"Alex?"

"Yeah. Harry?"

"Yup. What are you doing up?"

"I thought I heard something."

"Me too. I thought it was you."

"Same here. You should go back to bed; I'll check it out."

"No way. I want to know what it was too."

By now their eyes had adjusted to the lack of light in the hall and they were able to fully see each other.

"Is that a stick? What are you planning on doing, shoving it up the intruder's nose?"

Harry felt a little defensive. After all, that strategy had proven itself useful before during a certain unnamed incident with a troll.

"Maybe I am. What are you planning on doing? Is that bug repellant?"

"…It might be."

Another odd noise from below prompted the boys into silence. Alex rolled his eyes before helping Harry up and together they headed for the stairs. Leaning closer, Alex whispered to Harry.

"Split up when we reach the bottom. I'll take the front door, you check the back. Understood?"

Harry briefly considered arguing, but decided against it. It was Alex's house, after all. He nodded, and they headed down the stairs.

* * *

Alex slowly approached the window by the front door. He peered out, but couldn't see anyone. He turned around to go see if Harry had found anyone, but stopped as he heard a soft noise. Frowning, Alex looked out a second time. Nothing. Alex made up his mind, and in one smooth motion, unlocked the door and yanked it open, holding the can of Stingo aloft before himself in a threatening manner. Still nothing. Alex sighed at his paranoia and turned to leave again. As soon as he was facing the other way, a beam of red light appeared out of nowhere and hit him in the back. He was unconscious before he even hit the ground.

The Death Eaters smiled to themselves as they pulled off their invisibility cloaks. It seemed their master had overestimated the stupid muggle child. He appeared to believe that a small metal can was a match for the servants of the greatest dark lord in history. Still, orders were orders, and they were told to retrieve him. One of them climbed onto the porch and placed a small portkey on the boy's chest. He then watched in satisfaction as it whisked the muggle off. The Death Eaters soon followed.

* * *

Harry stalked toward the back door with caution. His wand was raised and his breath came in short gasps. Nothing seemed to be there, but it was often hard to tell with Death Eaters. Still, they weren't usually this quiet. He decided he'd just make sure the door was locked before joining Alex. Harry reached out and tugged on the door handle, and frowned as the door swung open easily in his hand. Come to think of it, the lock looked sort of funny. A little scratched up on the outside. But why would a Death Eater bother picking the lock? Harry's eyes widened as the full implications of the unlocked door sank in. He stood and spun around, but wasn't fast enough to stop the approaching blow. Harry's world faded into darkness.

The SCORPIA agent allowed no emotion to cross his face as he picked up the boy. It seemed that his theory of the strange boy being connected to Rider held some weight. Of course, that was the most logical explanation for the boy attacking to team sent to deal with the spy. The agent stooped to retrieve the boy's so called 'ray gun' as well before leaving. His orders were to get the boy and his weapons. Nothing else. He didn't dare risk jeopardizing his mission by remaining close to the Rider household for long. The spy brat always seemed to turn up at the worst possible time. With the boy slung over his shoulder, he headed for his car.

* * *

Hello! It's been a while, sorry. I hope it won't be so long before I finish the next chapter, but I don't know. May, and with it the AP tests, is approaching far too quickly. Thanks for all the reviews, they make me very happy. :)


	11. Chapter 11

Alex woke with a groan on his lips, but stopped it before it escaped. Surprisingly, he didn't hurt anywhere. He had expected to awaken in pain, or at least be disoriented, but he felt fine. Maybe SCORPIA had finally discovered a comfortable way to knock people out. Then again, that made no sense. They'd want him to be in pain.

Alex decided to file that little mystery away for later. Instead, he slowly opened his eyes. As he sat up, Alex was stunned to discover that he appeared to be in some sort of dungeon. A dungeon? Seriously? What century was this? No one used dungeons anymore. It was too cliché.

In fact, he thought as he looked down at the old-fashioned chains on his wrists, this whole thing was a bit too clichéd. Everything, from the torched guttering on the walls to the faint screams echoing down the hallway, was too, well, evil feeling. No self respecting bad guy set himself up to look like a bad guy. Take Desmond McCain and Damian Cray. They appeared to be contributing members of society. It gave them more freedom when plotting evil plots.

While SCORPIA was evil and annoying, it wasn't stupid. No way one of their lairs, even one belonging to an obscure branch of the organization, would look like this. So, the million dollar question was: If SCORPIA didn't kidnap him, who did?

Alex's musings were interrupted by a pair of arguing voices.

"I want to say it!"

"No, it's my turn! You said it last time Malcolm, remember?"

"Yeah, but I'm the one that brought him to Our Lord's attention, so I should get to say it."

"…Fine. But you owe me."

The voices stopped outside of Alex's cell. He blinked up at the two figures. They were wearing the black dresses and white masks that his attackers from the other day had worn!

"Hello muggle, remember me?" the winner of the argument, who was probably named Malcolm, asked.

Alex wordlessly shook his head.

"What, really? Come on, look closer."

Alex shrugged his shoulders helplessly. They looked pretty much the same in the dresses and masks.

Malcolm's shoulders slumped and he looked as depressed as a man in a mask can. His partner leaned over to whisper helpfully to Alex, "You broke his wand yesterday."

"Oh! Right! Yeah, we, er, met yesterday. Sorry about your, uh, wand," Alex said. It was probably best to play along until he knew what was happening.

The man brightened up.

"Yeah, that was me! Anyway, we've got a message for you. It's from the Dark Lord. Here goes. 'Welcome. You are now a prisoner of Lord Voldemort. Abandon all hope. If you are compliant with our demands, we may eventually grant you a painless death.' It's the standard message every new prisoner gets. Do you understand?"

Alex nodded slowly. Who were these people? 'Abandon all hope?' That was almost as bad as the dungeon.

Malcolm's partner said, "The Dark Lord has requested your presence. You will come with us now. Don't cause any trouble, or you'll regret it."

With that, he opened the door to Alex's cell and pulled him out. The three of them walked out of the dungeon and up some rickety stairs. Alex surveyed his surroundings in disbelief while they walked. The mansion, if that was what he was in, was the epitome of cliché secret lairs. Minions posted at regular intervals in menacing costumes, poor lighting, and grime. The only thing missing was lots of ominous machinery with little flashing lights. In fact, there didn't appear to be modern technology of any sort, even electric lights. Alex may have even passed someone writing with a quill!

Alex was too distracted by his surroundings to realize they had arrived at their destination until he was thrown to the ground.

"Kneel, muggle, before the ever powerful Dark Lord Voldemort!" Malcolm cried out imperiously.

Alex looked up. He was at the foot of a dais in an enormous room. Alex could only stare in disbelief at the man seated in an elaborate throne on the top of the platform. He was unhealthily pale, and had red eyes and a mere slit of a nose. There was a giant snake curled up in his lap, which he stroked while he smiled down cruelly at Alex with teeth filed into points.

It was at this point that everything clicked into place for Alex. The painless abduction, the 'wands,' the dungeon, the way his attackers disappeared the other day, everything. He must be on a hidden camera show!

* * *

Hi. Again, this took forever. Again, sorry. I don't have any intention of dropping this story, though, even if it does take me forever to write anything. As usual, thanks for reading.


	12. Chapter 12

Harry awoke suddenly to a bucket of water tossed over his head. For a moment, he just sputtered while trying to reason out where he was and why he was so wet. The second question was answered by the sight of the bucket still in the hands of his awakener, but the first proved more difficult. He appeared to be in a plain white room, occupied only by himself, the chair he was tied to, and the water thrower. Somehow, he must use these objects to deduce his whereabouts. He swiftly crossed himself and the chair off his mental 'to interrogate' list because chairs usually don't talk and it was already stated that he didn't know where he was. Unless he did actually know, and had forgotten. But how? Had he been memory charmed? How could he tell? Oh no! What had he forgotten? Quick! What was his name? How old was he? Where was he? He didn't know where he was! What to do? Harry took a deep breath and decided not to panic. Instead, he looked around at his surroundings for something to tell him where he was. He appeared to be in a plain white room, occupied only by himself, the chair he was tied to, and the water thrower. Somehow, he must use these objects…

Meanwhile, the aforementioned water thrower was watching Harry with no small amount of confusion. He'd been ready for tears, for begging, and for fervent declarations of innocence. After all, the boy looked to be only 14. Yes, Alex Rider had shown SCORPIA how dangerous 14 year old boys could be, but how many of those could there be in the world? There's no way this skinny dark haired boy calmly sizing up his surroundings and examining his bonds with a practiced eye, who also happened to come from the same house Rider was in could be dangerous, right? He took a few steps back, just to be sure and cleared his throat. It was time for the 'surrender all hope, bwahaha' speech. Although, his bosses didn't like him doing the 'bwahaha' part. They said it was too cliché. SCORPIA didn't do cliché.

Just as the thrower was about to begin speaking, another voice echoed down the hall.

"Marcus! Are you done yet? The boss is waiting for you to bring him in, and you know how he gets grouchy when he has to wait."

The water thrower, apparently named Marcus started guiltily.

"Of course I'm done! Do you think that I don't know how to do my job? He's just been making a real mess of himself and we need a bit more time."

"Alright, but you better hurry. I'll cover for you this once, but you owe me a favor."

Marcus turned back to Harry, looking frazzled.

"Sorry kid, looks like I've got to skip the intro. Don't tell anyone, would ya? I'm already on probation for taking the last of the potato salad at the company picnic."

Harry nodded slowly, unsure of the mental stability of the other man, but certain that being on good terms with him would come in handy later.

"And would you mind calling up a few tears? If not, they'll know I lied about you making a fuss."

Harry nodded obligingly again, and began to rub at his eyes as soon as Marcus untied his hands.

"Okay, that's red enough. Let's go."

Marcus grabbed Harry by the upper arm and hauled him out of the room. Harry looked at his surroundings in poorly concealed surprise. His first theory for his unplanned displacement had been Death Eaters, but everything looked too professional for that. In fact, compared to his previous kidnapping at the end of the Triwizard Tournament, this one has been downright luxurious. There were no dirty old gravestones to be tied to or creepy people in masks. Instead, here he was, untied after only a brief amount of time in a fairly nice chair, being led down a hall by a man who didn't seem so bad. At least, his level of personal hygiene was better than most of the Death Eaters. Look at Snape, for example.

They arrived at the end of the hall, and with it a door. It wasn't a particularly nice door. There were a few mildly suspicious stains near the bottom, and it didn't sit quite right on the hinges. However, there was a twisted appeal in the unevenness…

Harry's contemplation of the door was broken by his guard opening it. The room inside had a recently cleaned tile floor, and a man seated behind a desk. As Harry entered the room, the man behind the desk stood up and walked around it to stand in front of the boy.

"Well, you certainly don't look like much, but Rider doesn't either, does he? Looks can be so deceiving these days." The man paused, and seemed to be waiting for an answer.

"Sure," Harry tried. It didn't seem to be what the man was hoping to hear.

"It's amazing what technology can do these days. Open any door, destroy any barrier, even stop sound entirely, I've heard." Again, he looked expectantly at Harry, who was beginning to feel confused.

"…Really?" Harry hadn't exactly been keeping up with new technology, what with magic and all. That last part sounded pretty cool, though. Like the silencing charm, but for muggles.

"Yes. Some even say that objects out of science fiction are only years away. Others say that they may be here already." And there was that expectant look. Harry didn't bother answering. It didn't seem to matter to the man. He continued speaking.

"There are rumors of a functional ray gun that has been developed." Why was he telling Harry this? And what was a ray gun anyway? It sounded like something Dudley would enjoy.

The man had stopped talking and was staring intently at Harry's face. Eventually, he nodded and stepped back.

"I see it would be unwise to underestimate you. You obviously have been well trained. However, even the most experienced make mistakes, and eventually, so will you. We'll talk again later." With that, he signaled for Marcus to return Harry to the white room he had been in before.

Marcus turned to Harry as they walked down the hall.

"I'm impressed, kid. I've never seen anyone handle one of boss' interrogations so well. You didn't even blink! He didn't get anything out of you, and he's an expert on body language. It really seemed like you had no idea what he was talking about!" With that, they arrived at Harry's cell, and Marcus led him inside.

"Seems a bit silly to tie you up knowing that you'll escape the rope as soon as I'm gone. Experts like you always do. Would you mind if we skipped it? Tying those ropes is so inconvenient, and there's a really nice lock on the outside of the door that you won't be able to get past."

Harry was even more confused, but not about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Sure, I'm fine with that if you are."

Marcus smiled at Harry's reply and left, making sure to slam the door and loudly click the lock into place. Harry looked around his new room and shrugged. It was nicer than the cupboard under the stairs. He still had no idea where he was, why he was there, or what was going on, but he was surprisingly fine with that. These people were obviously muggles, and they weren't too bad. One of them, the boss, had mentioned Alex. Maybe they were his friends?

* * *

Be careful, everyone! There's this monster running around called 'College,' and it likes to devour free time. It seems to have found mine especially appetizing.


End file.
